Naked Before the World

Series: How to Look Good Naked
Sermon: Naked Before the World
George J. Saylor
February 24, 2008

I found a quote that pretty much sums up everything we’ve said so far in our "How to Look Good Naked" series, and points to where we’re finishing today. And I know there is at least one person here whose hero is Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

“In Confession the break-through to community takes place…If a Christian is in the fellowship of confession with another brother, he will never be alone again, anywhere.”

We started this series by taking an honest look at ourselves naked. What we saw, what we need to see, before anything else, is that we are made in the image of God- uniquely created for a unique role and a unique relationship with God. When you see yourselves in the mirror embrace the fact that you are the image bearers of God, the children of God. Get that in your bones and being, and you’ll start to know who you are, whose you are, where you are, and what you were made for. It is the beginning knowing yourself, and being known by God.

Two weeks ago I said that when we stand before God we have no choice but to stand naked- He knows us inside and out and all the days of our existence in this world and beyond. And since God knows us naked we really have only two options in our response- conceal or confess. We can try to be like Adam and Eve, caught with our pants down, trying to cover up with fig leaves, trying to hide the truth of who we are and what we’ve done. And when we do that before God we look about a pathetic as Adam and Eve did trying to conceal themselves and their disobedience to God. Or we can simply confess- God you know me, inside and out. You caught me in nothing but my birthday suit. God says there is freedom in confession. With confession comes mercy we learned from Proverb 28:13. Just confess what God knows, what you know, what you know that God knows. You know?!

Last week Ben Joliffee did an awesome job talking about the leap of faith we make to strip down and get naked with other people. To finally say enough loneliness and isolation, enough covering up my deep need to know and be known by other people, and get into relationships. I’m going to take the step to get real with someone else. Maybe this past week you took that step. You had coffee with a friend and took it to the next level. Maybe life forced you to get real- crisis hit, tragedy came, something shook you out of you comfort zone and you had get naked with someone else for the first time- to say help me, I need you, I need something, I’m lonely, I don’t want to do this on my own anymore. Honestly, I hope you took that step, or I pray that God forces you into that step in the near future. I know, that’s a mean prayer for a pastor to pray- but I pray it for your own blessing, and the blessing of others. Because think of it this way- if you don’t get real with other people, you are robbing them of the chance to be blessed by you.

Today we have to wrap it up, and get naked before the world. What does it look like to unveil ourselves before the world, before community, and start living authentic lives.

I think there are two types of people in the world- prudes and exhibitionists. One group wants to flaunt it, the other group wants to cover up. (One guess on which category I fall into.) Children are naturally born exhibitionists. Nobody told me this was part of the deal when I became a dad. In my house, at any given moment, you run the risk of seeing a naked little body go streaking through the living, into the kitchen, even out into the back yard. Yes, I’ve actually seen my kids bouncing naked on our trampoline. You have to love how kids naturally love their bodies and are unashamed of them. They know they are naked underneath it all, and healthy, normal kids, are really unafraid to expose themselves. In fact, developmentally, we know that this exactly how kids should live and think- this is who I am and I know I will be accepted for who I am without fear, shame or judgment. In the safety of their home they can be exhibitionists. One of the first phrases they learn and then say often is "Look at me!"

But live begins to teach us that in a fallen world, there is a time and place for our birthday suits. Life begins to teach us to be more prudent in revealing our nakedness. In fact one of the most common human fears that people confess is being caught naked in public. When my wife was young she saw a little kid come out of a change room naked at a swimming pool. Since then she has had a reoccurring nightmare that she forgets to put on her swimsuit. She walks out only to be humiliated. But how many of us have had that nightmare, or that reality- who here remembers the guy who got his shorts whipped down in gym class? I remember that guy- I was that guy!

In the spirit of leading by example, I have to tell the story of my most recent public exposure. One of the adventures I went on with my dad and brother and two uncles, was a fishing trip in 10,000 Islands, just off of the Everglades, three years ago. We hooked up with a guide who owned one of the few remaining cabins that was grandfathered in when it became protected wetlands. Well after the first day of fishing in the stinking hot sun we got dropped off at the cabin. Tucked into the mangroves, the deck overlooking a natural bay area, a gentle breeze keeping the mosquitoes away, the sun setting, it was awesome. The cabin had a cistern that collected rainwater for a gravity fed shower. And since this was in the middle of nowhere, the shower was simply the deck. Now bare with me (no pun intended). My brother takes a couple of rods, we load up some hooks with Kentucky Fried Chicken (I’m not making this up, and ok, maybe I am a redneck, but KFC makes some fine bait), and cast them out into the bay. I strip down and go to take my shower. At just about that moment as I’m cleaning up, one of the reels starts spinning. I yell in to my brother, "Hey, fish on." He yells back, "Grab it." So I turn off the spout, walk over the rod, and start reeling it in. And of course, at that moment, as I’m literally caught naked, standing on the deck, reeling in this fish, I hear from behind me, smile, and see all the others guys, my dear and beloved family, whom I used to trust, gleefully taking my picture. Pictures which where subsequently shown to my own mother if you can believe that!

Here's the point, if you can't trust your family who can you trust! No, actually, the thing was, it really wasn't so bad. In fact, it was kind of freeing to stand there before the world and say, "Hey, I'm George, I like fishing, and I'm naked!"

There are, shall we say, three stages of nakedness in developing authenticity. The first stage is Prudence. This is where we really need to guard who we are, and who others are. It’s not always right to reveal everything about yourself right from day one. You don’t introduce yourself to a new coworker by sharing all the sorted details of your past. People that do that are quickly ostracized from the work place community.

The bible even says, in Proverbs 12:23,

“A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the heart of fools blurts out folly.”

This stage isn’t about authenticity, it’s more about protecting yourself from further hurt that can actually hinder authentic community.

The second stage let's call Prudent Exhibitionism. It’ the next step in being real and naked with other people. It’s making the decision to take authenticity deeper with other people. It’s not blabbing during the lunch break with everyone, but having coffee with the guy you think you could be better friends with. It’s about going on a second date and not spending 2 hours doing your hair and makeup and picking out that perfect outfit, or if you a girl just one hour doing you hair and make up.

There is a story in the Old Testament where a man named Moses encounters God on a mountain, and when he came down his face was actually glowing, not like the skiers tan I’m sporting, but actually glowing like a lightstick! Now what's so wild about that story is that after a little while Moses faces started to fade. He took a walk one night and realized his lantern head wasn’t casting quite the light it once did. But instead of saying, "Oh well, I suppose life goes on even after a mountain top experience with God," it says he put a veil over his face to hide the face that his shine was wearing off. Some time later he finally came before the people, took off the veil, and admitted the glow was gone. Paul goes on to say in 2 Corinthians 3:18

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

He tells us that because of God’s love for us we don’t have to go around with veiled faces pretending to be something or someone who we really aren’t. Instead we are free to live unveiled in community. No veils. No make up. No masks required.

So now I ask you, what’s your veil? What’s your mask? What needs to come off if you are going to get naked, get authentic, with some other people?

Maybe you need to strip off the biting sarcasm that laces every conversation.
Maybe the constant need to direct the conversation to the areas of your expertise.
Maybe you need to stop talking about the glory days when you were a kid.
Maybe you need to admit you don’t know everything, and some people are smarter than you. We all have a veil. We all have something we want to hide, and something we use to cover it up. We take one strength, and we start to leverage that against a weakness.

Some of us have been veiled for so long that we don’t even know it anymore. We don’t realize every attempt to get authentic is betrayed with some biting remark or snappy retort. If you don’t know what your veil is, you need to find someone to tell you. And to find those people you really have no further to look than your family or someone who has spend any significant amount of time with you. They see your veil, and chances are they have tried to help you lift it.

And we need to lift it. Because while the veil might keep us safe and secure and wrapped up, it also keeps us concealed. Veils keep us from getting naked and real. And ultimately, we aren’t drawn to veiled faces, we want to know the man behind the mask. We are attracted to people that we can truly see for who they are.

So finally we get to the third stage- unveiled lives. As Paul wrote, unveiled lives that are transformed more and more into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ. We go from the prudence, to a kind of prudent exhibitionism, to find some people, not all people, that wouldn’t be prudent, to unveil our lives with. I say "with" because it has to be mutual. It has to be mutual, but it has to begin with one person beginning to pull the veil.

I remember when my best friend in college became my best friend whom I stood by at his wedding, who stood at my wedding, so still stands by me today when I need a friend. He was in my dorm as a freshman, he was my RA my sophomore year. We were in a bible study together and went on some camping and rock climbing trips. But he didn’t become my best friends through all these things. He became my best friend the day he came up to me and simply said, “You seem like the kind of guy I can be real with. You seem like the kind of guy that could be real with me. You seem like you are the guy that can be a true friend.” When he revealed his need for a real friend. When he said he thought I could be that kind of guy, man, that’s a conversation, that a brotherhood, you don’t find everyday.

But ultimately we are not called to unveil our lives and remain naked for al teh world to see. Instead, unveiled lives are to reveal the quality and character of our true and inner selves. God tell us exactly what he wants us to look like as we unveil our lives and are transformed into Christ’s likeness. He tell us exactly how he wants to clothe us...

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:1-14

The unveiled life isn’t about being naked, it’s about being clothes in the life and Spirit of Jesus Christ. We want to be able to strip away these things that veil our lives, that keep us from being authentic and real. We are to strip down and take off a lot of the things the world puts on us and we put on ourselves. And we can’t do it ourselves. We can take these things off without help- so we look to Jesus. We are so wrapped up in Jesus we die to our old selves the passage tells us. Then, raised to life in Christ, living in Christ we strip away sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed. Strip away anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language and all lying from your lips.

Then we want to get dressed up in what matters to God- to clothe ourselves with compassion, with kindness, with humility, gentleness and patience. These are the clothes that God looks at.

Clothe yourself with compassion toward your fellow human beings. Allow your heart to bleed with compassion for the orphans, for the widows, for the outcasts and outsiders. Show them the compassion not that they deserve, but that they desire, the compassion you desire in your heart.

Clothe yourself with acts of kindness towards those closest to you- to your spouse whom it’s so easy to take for granted, to you children who won’t always be young, to your neighbors who dog drives you crazy barking at night, whose kid plays their music too loud all day. Show kindness to you coworkers who are idiots and who don’t know how to do their job and who drive you crazy. Show kindness to strangers who you’ll never see again.

Clothe yourself with humility because if you don’t, someone else will. If you don’t humble yourself, sooner or later someone will do it for you, so folks, just beat them to the punch, laugh at yourself, give yourself some slack, and then give it to others as well.

Clothe yourself with gentleness because being a gentle man or gentle woman never goes out of style.

Clothe yourselves with patience. As the old saying goes- “Patience is a virtue, possess it if you can, seldom found in women, but never found in man.”

Bear with one another and forgive one another, and over all these virtues put on love, for love binds them all together in perfect unity.

Here’s the picture that scripture paints for us- strip away the clothes, lift the veil, and live authentic lives. God doesn’t really care about the label on your jeans, if they are relaxed fit, boot cut, or skinny, black, blue or acid washed. He might care if they are ultra super low rise. Honestly folks, say no to crack. He doesn’t care if you shirt is tucked or untucked, he probably just wants you to have one on. He doesn’t care if your Ugg boots are real or knock offs, he probably just wants everyone of his children to have warm feet in the winter. Strip away all the clothes, because that not what God is looking at.

But take away the veil, live by these virtues, and you will be smoking hot in the eyes of God. God’s gonna look at us say hey, did you see my girl Robin, she is looking fine today- I saw the compassion she showed her husband. Hey, you see George today, he is looking hot, because he was patient with his kids. I saw Nate and, oh yeah, he’s got it going on, because today he showed forgiveness to a brother. Did you see my children today at Connections church- they started to lift the veil. They started to prudently exhibit who they are, who they want to be. And I liked what I saw.

Friends, I like what I see in your unveiled faces, for I have seen and experienced the love of God in you. I need to see your unveiled lives. Other here need your unveiled lives. The world is dying to see some authentic unveiled lives.

Naked Before Others

Series: How to Look Good Naked
Sermon: Naked Before Others
Ben Jolliffe
February 16, 2008

We spent a week looking at how do we get naked before others. In light on the pervasive loneliness and isolation in our society, it seemed to make sense to talk about what our Creator has to say about how we can exist in community. Enjoy.

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So, I spend my days on the campus of the University of Western Ontario, surrounded by 30 000 odd students not including the faculty, support staff and others. I am immersed in humanity. And having never lived in Saskatchewan, Montana or outer space, I have actually been around people my entire life.

So probably have you, and today’s issue is how do we get naked before others? Obviously it’s not an issue of reduced clothing, but an issue of being real. The underlying assumption behind this message is that we have difficulty connecting with others.

It’s true. It is an issue that invades our lives, that invades my life and your life. We would call the issue loneliness. You feel alone, I feel alone, we all feel alone surrounded by tons of people, living in a city of 350 000. We can still feel alone.

In the book Bowling Alone, the Harvard Business School profiles loneliness in our society. It traces the increase in loneliness and isolation over the last 25 years.


Let me give you some of the statistics from the book:

Playing cards is down 25%. Think of it, there are 2 possible causes of this;
1. We hang out less 2. Baptists are increasing.

An evening with neighbours down 33%. Most of us don’t even know our neighbours, all we know is old guy, punk guy, medical marijuana guy. Bible says love them, we don’t often know them or talk to them.

Family dinners down 33%.
Having a party with friends, down 45%. Now we are not talking about getting drunk, breaking commandments, but this is getting together for dinner, Settlers, watching The Office.

The Readiness of the average American to make a friend is down 33%. So not only do we have fewer friends, we aren’t even ready to make more. Everyone is walking around saying ‘ I would like a friend.’ Who wants to go first? Not it! Everyone wants everyone else to initiate.

The average person has only 2 friends, down from 3 in the 80’s. So it’s not looking good. It is kind of depressing to think that of the 30 million people in Canada only 2 of them like you, and that is dropping.

And don’t forget the coffee shop phenomenon, which Starbucks has unleashed on the world. This is a very unique environment where lonely, socially isolated people gather to drink bitter coffee and ignore each other in community.

Additionally, when I think of people I would like to give my life to, I naturally think of kijiji (online local classifieds). Online the other day, I noted that our local kijiji web page for London ON which under casual connections (which is code for hoping to break the law) lists 604 options for new relationships. People are lonely and looking for love.

Even in church, even in our church, there exists a problem. People come to church, hoping to make friends, to meet people, make some connections, to get rid of the loneliness. The very name of our church highlights that. Connections Community Church. A place to connect.

But in a recent issue of today’s Christian Woman, don’t ask me why I was reading it, but they did a survey, which I did not participate in. But 42% of respondents answered that they feel quite lonely. That is Christian women, who read Christian magazines. If there is a problem among women, you know it must be epidemic among men.

The bottom line is people are disconnected, they are isolated, they are lonely, they are hurting and it is epidemic. It is in the culture, it is in the church.

So before I get to our main passage this morning, let me quickly outline some of the Bible’s Teaching on this issue. That’s where we as Christians begin.

Let’s start with God. That is where we always start. We believe in a God as a trinity. He is at the same time, one and three. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. They exist together in perfect oneness, community, with respect, love and relationship to each other.

God did not make us, as some religions teach, because he was lonely or bored or incomplete. He was already perfect. He already had all he needed.

But he did create us in his image and likeness. Male and Female. He created us. And everything was good in the garden except one thing, that man was alone (Gen. 2:18). We are not created to be alone. We are created to exist in community with each other, the same way God exists in community with himself.

But as a society, we have this warped notion that as we grow up, we can do it by ourselves. That in the words of Kelly Clarkson, we can be ‘miss independent’. That we can make it on our own, that we don’t need anybody. We become self-sufficient. But being created by God to be like Him, in his image means we are supposed to exist in loving community with others.

However, there is an issue. Sin.

Now I am married, I have been married for 7 months and 3 days. It has been great. And in my immeasurable experience of being married, I have realized this: we have 2 problems with our marriage. Me and Jen. Without those two problems, our marriage has huge potential for awesomeness. But we exist. And we have issues with sin. I have a propensity to be selfish and to sometimes place my wife’s needs lower than mine. I sin against her all the time.

Last week George went to town on this issue of sin and how it separates us from God, and how Christ’s sacrifice has bridged the gap and we need to confess our sins to him so he can forgive us.

But the sin in our lives does not just disconnect us from God, it also disconnects us from each other. It brings death to our relationships. If I am your friend and I punch you in the solar plexus because you beat me at Risk and gloated in my face that will bring death into our relationship.

And this is the root of why all people struggle with loneliness. Because we all sin. We all fall short of God’s glory. One of the effects of sin is broken relationships. Disconnected lives. Broken hearts.

So here we find ourselves, created to be like God in community, longing for it, looking for it, but yet unable to find it because of our brokenness.

And so we come back to Scripture, as the authority for our lives, asking it, what is the deal with broken relationships? What is the answer to loneliness? How do I connect with others? How do I get real with people? How the heck do I get naked before others?

And so let me read for you from Philippians. We are going to jump around a bit, but let’s start in Philippians. This letter is written by a guy named Paul, who planted a bunch of churches and wrote most of the new Testament. At this point in his life, he is a jail cell, all alone, probably facing death, under house arrest – and he writes a letter to his friends from a city called Philippi.

In Philippians 1:3 – Paul says, “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Paul, facing death, all alone, abandoned by friends is praying and thanking God because of the partnership in the gospel that he has with the people of Philippi.

See the common answer given to the problem of loneliness is that you need a friend. But that is not true.

Because, most, if not all of your friendships are based on proximity and affinity. This can be easily demonstrated by your high school yearbook.

If you have ever gone back and looked at your yearbook, you may notice many profound comments and piercing insights into the human experience. Comments like ‘Never Change” or “Rock on” or “BFF - Best Friends forever.”

And you think, who is that person? And why did I let them write in my yearbook?

See what you had is proximity. You went to the same class, you had lockers beside each other, you made fun of the jocks at lunch time. You had proximity. You spent significant time together in the same geographic location. You just had the illusion of friendship.

Or maybe with some others you have affinity. You both like the same sports team, you have the same hobby, you like hamsters, you both have no jobs, whatever.

But in both cases, when you move away, or you get in a fight, or things change, the relationship ends. And even when the relationship is ‘on’, you feel like you are gliding along the surface, or always talking about the Leafs or getting your books our of your locker, because nothing of value holds your relationship together.

And this extends to church. We have a lot of proximity, we have some affinity…But do we have something that goes beyond some surface connection. With most people we have some wispy semblance of a real relationship.

The deep, on-going, abiding connection that you really long for, that God created you to experience is still missing. It never was there. We all have this longing, we all have this need for real relationships. We can’t get by without them.

But we are like cars running on diesel fuel. In their song, Love is the Reversal, Switchfoot calls it “the worldwide train wreck. The come undone.” The whole world is broken somehow.

We try to fill our need for transparency and real relationship with this hodge podge of proximity and affinity. We have been convinced that if we simply hang around with people long enough, or do enough stuff with others that we will end up in a satisfying, abiding, deep relationship.

You won’t. It will never work. Think of all the people you might call at 2 am when life is crashing down around you. You pick up the phone and whose number do you dial? Do you call the guy who works in the cubicle next to you, or the guy you play hockey with, or the girl that you sit beside in biology class?

Relationships of proximity and affinity seem okay, but when life comes crashing in, they fade away.

Paul knew that, because he was there. That is why God inspires him to write of his partnership in the gospel with the Phillipians. His friends of proximity and affinity were gone.

What we need, is gospel partnerships with people. The difference being that in a friendship, your hobbies, or your geography make up the foundation. But in a gospel centered partnership, Jesus is the foundation and the center.

Because as I mentioned before, we are all sinful. And there will come a point in every relationship when one of you will sin. And what you do with that sin is of huge significance. If golf is the center of your relationship, you don’t know what to do with sin, you can ignore it, but it will destroy your friendship.

But! In a gospel partnership, it is a different story. In a gospel partnership, you both know that Jesus died to take away sin and forgive us for all of our stuff. Sin is going to happen, but Jesus died to pay for it.

In a gospel-partnership we agree to do life together, to treat each other the way that God treated us. John says, God loves us, so we love others. Ephesians says God forgave us, we can forgive others. Corinthians says, God reconciled us, we can reconcile with others. We give with no expectation to be paid back. We give because God gave.

Sooner or later, what you will realize is that everyone has as issue.

I remember going to IKEA in high school with my friends to walk through the displays and buy a couple of small funky items. But my favourite part of the store (except for the cheap hotdogs) was right at the end before the checkouts. Off to the left there is a section called ‘AS IS” which is full of couches and furniture and all kinds of stuff that had been damaged in some way, or had been returned.

We would always dig through it all to try and find some sweet treasures for a bargain. I was always so proud to get stuff cheaper than everyone else.

And what I ended up realizing as I journeyed through life is that I kept getting frustrated with all my friends. All of them would so stuff that annoyed me. They would say things that hurt me, they would ignore me. Or I would do it to them. And I longed for a deep friendship.

Even when I got into dating relationships, there was always lots of misunderstandings, hurt feelings, sin. And I came to understand that everyone, everywhere, including me comes with the as is tag. We all have sin. We all have emotional issues. We have junk in our trunk. It may be immediately apparent, but everyone has it. Even my wife, who is nearly perfect. Sin is always part of the picture as long as live.

But this is the absolute brilliance of a friendship or relationship centered on Jesus. There is a way to deal with it. When we hurt someone else, we go to them and ask their forgiveness and we repent. They forgive us and we repair the relationship. When they sin against you, they repent and you forgive.

A gospel partnership places Jesus at the center, because he is the only one who can deal with sin.

Paul goes on to say in Philippians, that when he prays for the Philippians, he prays with joy, remembering all that had happened in their relationship.

That is another thing about gospel partnerships, people pray for each other. We pray for each other’s best, for each others needs, hopes, dreams, feelings, hurts. We lift each other up to our God asking for him to bless, help and comfort. There is a spiritual side to the relationship, where together we are on a mission to serve and glorify God. And we pray together.

And we have end up with good memories. Paul says that when he thinks of them, he has joy. When we think of our gospel partnerships, we don’t have to deal with guilt or bad feelings or grudges. When we deal with our sin, and are forgiven by Christ and our friends, we can let go of our hurt and guilt. We can think of others with joy. Gospel partnerships lead to good memories.

Gospel partnerships are about dealing with sin, praying for each other, making good memories and choosing to do life together.

And right now some of you may be saying to yourself, that is what I would like. I would like a friend like the one you are talking about. I want someone who will pray for me, love me, talk to me, call me, ask me to do stuff, go to church with, even rebuke me if necessary. That sounds like a good deal.

And I agree. That does sound pretty sweet. Who wouldn’t want that?

But the problem, and this is where we first need to get naked, is that we are all inherently selfish.

We all come with our agendas to friendships or relationships, looking someone who can fill our need, who can meet our desires, instead of thinking how we can be that for someone else. We wait for the relationship to come to us. We expect to fall backwards into it.

And I am preaching this to myself. It is God’s irony and sense of humour that I got to preach this sermon today. Because if this text is talking to you, it is yelling at me. For my whole life I have wanted something like this. A friend who sticks closer than a brother. And I have come to almost every single relationship in my life looking for what I can get out of it. I have struggled to want to be that friend to others. I am prone to love things that kill relationships. I live in the shipwreck of the fall, in the dirt of sin, and my old nature is stained dark by sin. I tend to roll along the surface, friends with everyone and no one. To be honest, if my life came crashing down tonight, I don’t know who I would call besides my wife.

And if I ever want to break free, and if I ever have a hope of having a deep relationship, I need to take the first step. And so do you. If you only ever come expecting to get, you will leave disappointed. Getting naked before others begins with taking first steps.

But just for a moment, imagine if we became a church of people who cared enough to take the first step? If every time a person walked through the doors of the theatre, someone loved and cared about them and chose to be their friend? If we intentionally chose to go deeper with a few people so that we could know the joy and awesomeness of real connection. That would be a church that I would want to be a part of.

Today, is about first steps, let me give you a few ideas:

1. You might need to become a Christian. Maybe you’re here because you are burned out on life and relationships and doing things your way. You have heard about what relationships should be like and you think, “I can’t do that.” And you are right, you can’t. We all need Christ to forgive us and help us. The only way you can have real relationships is when Christ anchors them. Your first step may be to trust Christ with your life before you start to trust others.

2. It could be a first step to join a connection group here. Get over your selfishness and pride and start to get naked with others. You get into a little community with other people where you can take first steps to expose your true self.

3. It could be a conversation, where you approach a friend of proximity or affinity and take it to a deeper level. Ask them to go out for coffee, confide something important to them, invite them over for dinner. Be a little more naked with your desire for connection.

We have to get naked and be real and take the first step. And it will require some vulnerability. Being exposed. But as the people of God, the physical representatives of God on earth, we have to be this way. Not just with each other, though that is important.

But there will be people who walk through the doors of this theatre, who have been burned real bad. Some of you today may be listening to this message thinking, he has no idea what I have been through. And I don’t.

But I can tell you this, is that as a Christian community, we will do our best to love you. It doesn’t mean nothing ever goes wrong, or no one ever sins, but it does mean that we will repent and reconcile every time we do.

A gospel partnership is not about relationships that never have bad parts. It is about Jesus using other human beings to help us through the bad parts so we can continue deeper with him.

Because in the end, it is not simply the relationship, it is the people. Everyone is created in God’s image, everyone has value, everyone has worth, everyone is loved by God, everyone is stamped with God’s image.

In the end, it is about God. God knows we need other people. He knows it is not good for man to be alone. He knows that we need help to get through life. And he knows that we are going to sin against each other. That is why he came and died. Jesus paid the price for our sin. Jesus gives us the gift of relationships so that we can grow and know him and know ourselves more.



I was in Edmonton for the summer in 2004 with a Campus for Christ mission project. During the course of the summer we took a trip to Jasper and camped in the mountains for a weekend. It was freezing at night. But the Saturday was just beautiful. It was about 22-23 degrees and sunny. So, being young and immature, we decided to go swimming and cliff jumping, in a mountain lake. Which is a little chilly. Eventually we found the place and it turns out there is a nice big cliff there.

I have done some cliff jumping before, but 70 feet is a little outside my range. So I was about to give a manly excuse for not jumping off the big one when 3 of the guys started talking about how they had already jumped. So I thought to myself, Dang.

So I walked around to the top and peered over the edge and again, Dang it’s a long way down. And I am a bit scared, because you can’t just hop off, but you had to run and jump to get out over some rock ledges.

But, I backed off, then looked again, and backed off, took a deep breath and hurled myself off. And it was awesome. Such a huge rush flying that far. I never regretted it.

And today some of you may be looking over the edge at relationships with others, with gospel-centered partnerships and saying, “there is no way.” It’s dangerous, its foolhardy, it is going to hurt, I am going to get injured. I am waiting till someone comes to me.

But I think God may be telling me and telling you and telling our church that this is a jump we need to take. This is a risk that is worth taking. Because he is guiding us, he is helping, and he knows that it is worth it. So, let’s do it, let’s get naked.

Naked Before God

Series: How to Look Good Naked
Sermon: Naked Before God
George J. Saylor
February 10, 2008

Last week we kicked off our How to Look Good Naked series. I have to give God the glory because I had some amazing conversations this past week. People shared how hard it really is for them to look in the mirror. They see shame, guilt and regret. It usually came down to one two reasons. One group sees the names they have been called, the things that have been done to them, the image that was superimposed over their body, their mind, their soul. Others see the faces of those they have sinned against. They carry the guilt and shame of what they called others, what they did to their children, to their spouses, to the parents, to their friends.

I hope and pray that as we looked in the mirror this past week we began to see reflected back to us the very image and likeness of God. Not that we are Gods, but unlike all other created things, we alone are the image bearers of God. We learned three things: We were uniquely created in God’s image. We have a unique role to fulfill as his stewards. We have a unique relationship with God in all of creation.

I hope and pray that as you looked at yourself in the mirror, you were able to simply say- you are made in the image of God and you look MARVELOUS. Because before anything else, before we consider the way others look at ourselves, before we even look at ourselves, we need to get straight how God looks at us and what God sees in us. Because that is the way that we will start to get this whole sense of self, who we are and what we were created to be and do, straightened out. God looks at us and see his very image, his very likeness reflected back. And God says it looks marvelous! You are dearly beloved children, the people of God, I made you to know you and to be known by you. If you are struggling today with self image, with body image, with your identity there is good news that you are made in the very image of God and I want each and every one of us to get that straight before we go on.

Today we go the next step. We want to go into that relationship with God which we were created for. And as we go into that relationship, we need to realize that we have to go in naked. We really have no other option. Psalm 139:13-16 says,

“For you (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of the came to be!”

The psalmist reflects on the fact that God knows us inside and out because he made us inside and out. He wove us together; he knew the days of our lives before one of them came to be. And I love that verse, I praise you God, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, I know that full well.

I totally get that. Fearfully and wonderfully made. You know how? I’ve made kids. Three of them in fact. Making them was the wonderful part. Raising them is the fearful part. But really, bringing children into the world is this mix of fear and wonder. And every parent knows that. Every parent knows the exhilarating thrill that goes hand in glove with the paralyzing terror, the reality, of a new life. As I held each one of my kids as they came into the world it was this moment where the line between heaven and earth became almost non-existent. This moment in eternity where the miracle of life unfolded before me, and you can’t help by cry. With all of my kids I’d just stand there holding them, and I had to cry. You cry because you are so excited at the beautiful little life in your hands, and you cry because you’re like what an earth am I going to do now!

As we get naked before God, as we enter into the wonderful and fearful reality, as we gaze deeper and more honestly at ourselves, we begin to see our selves the way God sees us- and something else emerges in the image. We start to see that there really are some blemishes. We start to see that there really is some baggage. We start to see there really is some junk that we are carrying around with us.

That thing is sin. It’s the thing that messes up the image. It messes up the way we see ourselves reflecting the glory of God. I suppose there are folks out there, maybe in here, that would argue that there is no such thing as sin, that their lives are perfect, that everyone they’ve encountered is fine, that the world is completely just and right. I have no idea what world they live in or what lives they live. Because in my world I’m messed up. I’ve made mistakes, I’ve hurt myself and I’ve hurt others. In my world I’ve been messed up and messed with. In the world I live in I daily read of war and murder and rape and abuse a hungry and misery. The world I live in has a vast amount of empirical proof that sin and evil exists and is real and is at work. It messes up our role as stewards made in the image of God. It messes up the relationship that were made to enjoy as men and women made in the image of God. It messes up our relationship with our neighbors and ourselves. It messes up this image in the mirror.

But the great news for us is that God has provided the means to begin repairing that image. It’s called confession. And the bible is full of stories of confession. One of my favorites is from a man named Isaiah.

In Isaiah 6:1-7 we read…

1 In the year that King Uzziah died (740BC for you history buffs) I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

Isaiah goes to the temple to worship God, and there he is transported into the vision of the Holy of Holies. The veil between heaven and earth is lifted and Isaiah sees reality- heaven and earth for what they really are. This image from Isaiah’s vision has worked it’s way into our culture- in movies, in television, in numerous episodes of the Simpsons, where God is pictured as this majestic figure, standing larger than life, in resplendent robes of white that flow down to the ground and beyond. He sits on a throne that towers over us mortals. He speaks and the ground shakes.

What is the first thing that Isaiah calls out when he stands before God- “Hey big man, what’s up? I’ve got some questions for you.” (people always say they have all sorts of questions for God when they die). No way. Isaiah is naked and he knows it. Isaiah is busted. He says, “Woe to me, I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!” When we stand before God we see ourselves in a whole new light. And that light reveals everything, every thought, every deed, every word, every motive.
When we are confronted with the reality of the presence of God in our lives the human response, the natural response to our creator, the maker of heaven and earth, the holy and perfect Lord Almighty, is to assume that we are goners. That God is gonna smote us good!

And if the story stopped right there, I wouldn’t be standing here. If the story stopped right there we’d have to say there is no hope for us. We are unclean, we are guilty, we should be ashamed, and we will be smote. But the great thing is that the story doesn’t stop. As Isaiah stands there, kind of naked and exposed before God, totally helpless, as he confesses to God, God does something. God sends one of the Seraph angels who takes this burning coal and touches it to Isaiah’s lips, but instead of searing his lips shut with burning flesh, God says see, your guilt has been taken away, and your sin atoned for.

All Isaiah did was say, “Woe, I’m unclean.” And that was enough. You see, what Isaiah did at that moment was called confession. He confessed his sin, he confessed his condition, and he confessed the reality of his life before God.

This is one of those words where the original Greek is actually interesting. It from the Greek “homologeo,” which simply translates- “to say the same.” What confession is then, is to say the same thing about ourselves that God say about us. God sees us for who we are. God sees us naked. And we know God sees us naked because we see ourselves in this new light. And at that moment we are faced with two options: confess, or conceal.

Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but he who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

The bible says we have one of two options as we stand before God, one of two options when we stand naked- we conceal or we confess. Concealing means trying to cover up, to ignore, to put it off, to try and deny it. Confession is when we simply say- you know God, I agree. I’m willing to see myself as you see me and say the same thing.

Concealing our nakedness before God is the last ditch effort of a fool. And we do it all the time. Again, parents, you know exactly what I’m talking about. I think it happens every day that my kids sin and try to cover it up. I’ve found in our pantry a bag of opened chocolate chips. I’ve picked up chocolate chips off the ground. I’ve gone to my child and asked- did you take the chocolate chips without asking. And there, with big bambi looking eyes, with this sweet look in her face, with the soft voice she says no daddy I didn’t take the chocolate chips. All the while my child is the living incarnation of messy Marvin. She has this ring of chocolate around her mouth, all over her hands, all over her clothes. And I honestly don’t want to punish her. I really take no joy in punishing her, in grounding her or taking privileges away from her. I like chocolate chips myself. I’d actually be more than happy to give her a little bowl with some chocolate chips, if only, if only, if only she would confess. If only she would agree with what I already know, if only she would acknowledge what we both know to be the truth. If she would confess renounce her sin, she would find mercy. She would find compassion. I would show her grace.

Concealing does nothing but build a wall between us. It begins that downward spiral of disintegrating the relationship. And as that wall is built guilt begins to take hold. Guilt begins to eat us away. It begins to eat away at the relationship. It begins to tear us apart inside. It wreaks havoc on our intellect and emotions. It begins to take a toll on our physical bodies. Psalm 32 the writer David says “When I kept silent about my sin my body wasted away.” He couldn’t eat, he couldn’t sleep, he had no peace, he had no freedom, and truly he could not prosper.

But confession brings mercy friends. Confession tears down the wall of separation so that the relationship can flourish. Confession brings forgiveness so the guilt that consumes us can be washed away. Confession brings freedom. Confession brings us into the freedom to stand naked and unashamed before God. Confession brings us the freedom of saying you know God, I’m done concealing because I’m want to be done with this baggage, the broken relationship, this guilt, this shame. I’m done and I want to be free! Confession brings compassion by friends. And we need it.

There is actually a two fold purpose to confession. The first is to confess Jesus Christ as your savior and Lord. The bible says in Romans 10:9, “

That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. “

The first and foremost confession is always the confession of Jesus- to say the same of him as he say, as the bible says- Jesus is Lord.

But for those that confess Jesus as Lord there is the ongoing role of confession in our lives. This is so that we might continue to crow in the relationship with Jesus. The bible says in 1 John 1: 8-9,

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

That what it’s all about when we stand naked before God- he sees us for who we really are, he knows us inside and out, what we’ve thought and said and done. And we can go on trying to conceal ourselves to no avail. We only fool ourselves and not prosper. But if we confess we will find mercy, we will be forgiven, we will know freedom and release. But we have to own it. We have to confess it. WE are called to use our lips. There’s something about Isaiah saying, confessing it, and having his lips cleansed. There’s something about confessing it with our lips that seems to make it real in our lives.

I’ve made a friend here in London. I’ve been inviting him to our church since before our preview services. He’s never offended, I actually think he flattered. But he’s never come. I just keep trying to be his friend. I recently found out from another mutual friends that the other week he got up, got dressed, got in his car, drove here- and turned around. I asked why on earth would he do that?

And his friend said because he is afraid. I was like, where did I go wrong. I was assured that it is nothing I said or did. But rather, he feels guilty and afraid to come to church. He feels horrible about himself, and he thinks we’re going to make him feel worse. Because somehow the church has screwed up the most awesome message, the greatest news any of us could ever hear- that there is a way to find freedom from the junk you are dragging through life, that weighs you down, that hold you back from the relationship with you were created to enjoy.

Folks, the last thing I want is for you to feel worse this morning. I want you to feel free. I haven’t preached confession because I want to hear all the sorted details of you life. I want you to be able to unload on God, confess your junk, and find God’s mercy. Because that’s what’s promised to all of us who confess- no more concealing, no more guilt, no more baggage. I preached this for my friend who isn’t here because I want everyone here to know, and I want this church to become known as the church where people who feel guilty, and afraid, and ashamed, and judged can come to church. I want everyone here to know that you can invite your friends who are carry the burden and guilt of this world and their lives. Bring them here so together we can find the freedom that come sonly in being naked before God.

Naked Before the Mirror

Series: How to Look Good Naked
Sermon: Naked Before the Mirror
George J. Saylor
February 3, 2008

Few months ago now, Robin calls me to come see a show on TV. I walk in and see that she has on the W channel- "Television for women who hate men or want to learn how to hate men. " I said I’d take more joy from watching paint dry! But then she says the show’s called “How to Look Good Naked.” So out of respect for my wife and in order that I might understand better the unique and wonderful ways in which God created women, I figured it was my duty, nay, my obligation, to thoughtfully observe the show.

Within another 30 seconds I was profoundly disappointed and thought the title very misleading. They were discussing the merits of an empire waist and control top stockings. But like a car wreck, I was compelled to watch. What actually emerged, and though I’m endorsing the show- it is a bit risqué- was actually very moving. A woman who was in truth very normal and attractive, had a horribly low self esteem. She didn’t see herself in the right way. She was unnecessarily harsh and critical. And over the course of the show, this flamboyantly gay man actually talked her out of any radical cosmetic surgery, continued to flatter her, taught her some simple things about dressing and posture. By the end of the show this woman felt great about herself- better than she had in who knows how long.

Well, that’s not what we are talking about this month. I don’t have the time or patience or skill to give anyone a makeover. But that show got Robin and I thinking. Why do we fear being naked? Why are we obsessed with the nakedness of others? Why do women watch a show like that one? Why do women compare themselves to other women? Why are men more and more dealing with body image issues, working out for hours to become like Spartan men of muscle and virility? Why do men drool over naked women, diving deeper into pornography? Why do they chase after that illusive image they think will satisfy their sexual desires? A growing addiction to pornography is tearing apart the lives of both men and women, wrecking marriages, ruining careers, stealing childhoods, taking lives. Why do we want to look good naked? And more, what would it mean to really look good naked before ourselves, others, and God? What are the real standards of beauty? What really makes us look good?

Our obsession and fascination of our own and others nakedness begins with the fact that we are born naked. I know, you thought it was just you and your kids. In fact the bible says, on two occasions, "Naked I came from my mothers womb and naked I will depart." Job 1:21. The truth is tha underneath it all, all the clothes, all the make-up, all the masks that we wear, we’re just a bunch of naked people. And to understand ourselves, we must get in touch with the reality of our nakedness. So not surprisingly, this is where the bible starts. It starts stripped down, naked and exposed. The bible actually begins with a story of some people who looked good naked.

Genesis 2:15-25 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman,'
for she was taken out of man."

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

To understand where this series is going we have to get one thing straight- we were created to be naked! We were made to be naked and not ashamed of ourselves. Adam and Eve were standing naked in front of each other, naked before God, naked for the entire world to see, and it felt completely normal, completely right. All they had ever known was their birthday suits, and they were pretty happy with them. Adam seemed particularly happy with the declaration- “WOO-man!”

Being naked is literally how they were supposed to live. Naked and not objectified. Naked and not abused or mistreated in any way. Naked and completely protected, completely comfortable, completely safe and secure. Adam and Eve were in a naked state of harmony and relationship with themselves, with each other, with God, with the Garden itself.

But as the story unfolds Adam and Eve are deceived. They disobey God, sin enters the world, and the very moment this happens, the very moment it says, their eyes were opened in a way they hadn’t been and they realized for the first time that they were naked. They had no idea they were even naked or what nakedness meant up until this point. They looked at themselves with different eyes. They looked at each other differently. Something had radically changed for the worse and they knew it immediately. The story goes on say that they heard God and they hid. And when God called out, they said they were naked, they were ashamed, and they were afraid.

And nothing would be the same ever again. Because now the overwhelming feeling that the man and the woman experienced and felt was shame in looking upon their nakedness, and fear when God came close. And the rest of human history has been a story guided by our shame and fear, and in turn, our desire to run, to hide and to cover up. The rest of human history has been dealing with the sin that has come into our world and into our lives. The rest of human history and our lives is this internal feeling of disconnect- we were made to be naked, but we know we can’t live that way anymore.

Here’s the deal- the core problem with our lives is not that underneath it all we are naked, it’s that underneath it all we are naked, and we know it. The problem isn’t nakedness- it’s how we see nakedness. It’s that we see nakedness.

In this series we want to see nakedness in a new light. We want to get naked before ourselves, and see ourselves for who we really are. We want to get naked before God, and see how He views us. We want to get naked before each other, without the façade. We want to get naked before the world, so they can know who we are and whom we serve. The Christian life, the life of following Jesus Christ, is this journey where we come through the sin of this fallen world, we put our faith in Jesus Christ, and then, and as we stand in Him, in Jesus, we can stand naked, naked and not ashamed, of ourselves or of others, and unafraid of God. We stand in Jesus Christ and everything is put to right again. We stand in Jesus and like Billy Crystal used to say on SNL, "Darling, you look MARVELOUS!"

So today we start by taking a look in the mirror. When we start looking in the mirror, there’s a lot of things about ourselves that we are drawn to, things that we like. Nice hair, a pretty face, great legs, whatever. But then upon inspection we all seem to have those, shall we say, problem areas. When you really look in the mirror, you start to obsess and start noticing all those things you don’t like, like the hair that was supposed to grow on my face but decided to crop up all over my back. For may of us, looking the the mirror is very difficult, very uncomfortable. We don't like the image we see.

So the first thing we want to do, the best thing we can do as we look into the mirror, is to see ourselves as God sees us. And the first and most important thing to recognize as we look in the mirror is that what is being reflected is the very image of God. In Genesis 1, we read that

“God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

While theologians have pondered for centuries what it means to be made in the image of God, let me share with you three things we know for sure- We are uniquely created; we have a unique role to fulfill; and we enjoy a unique relationship with God.

First, you are uniquely created. You, men and women, boys and girls, no matter how you look at yourself in the mirror, whether it be with undue harshness and criticism, or an unrealistic and over inflated ego, there is something truly amazing about you, truly wonderful about you, truly unique in all of creation- you have been created in the very image and likeness of God. This sets you apart and above all of creation. Men and women alone are made in the image of God- everything else is just a reflection of the creativity of God- from the universe to ecosystems to plants and animals to insects and everything else, they reflect the infinite and amazing creativity of our amazing God. But you are image bearers! You have the unique capacity to be the icons of God.

What does that mean? Icons are works of art that are created for the express purpose of reflecting the greatness and glory of God. It is something that was created to point past itself, and on to God. It is made to focus our attention and worship onto God. And so you were made in the image of God, an icon that reflects his glory, and points past yourself and onto God.

Being uniquely created in the image of God affirms many things about us and our God. We have been created physically, so there is something physical about the God, which we saw most clearly in Jesus Christ. We are spiritual creatures, and so the bible tells us that God is spirit and we worship Him in spirit and truth. We have intelligence, at least some humans do, so there is an amazing intellect in our God. We have emotions, and so we see the emotion and passion of our God throughout the bible. We are moral creatures, and while our moral compasses are often skewed, we still seem to have the guiding sense of right and wrong, good and bad, holiness and evil, that comes from outside ourselves. In all of these ways, and in may more, we can finally say that uniquely we are created as the image bearers in God creation.

But let’s be clear that there’s a difference between being created in the image of God, and being God. We are the creatures, God is the creator. Very few would argue that we are gods. Some would argue that we will become gods. It will suffice to say now that this belief is found nowhere in the bible. The final image of humanity that is portrayed in the bible is that we will have resurrected bodies, we will be free from disease and death, we will be immortal beings even now as we have immortal souls, but that we continue to worship and glorify not ourselves, but God.

Second, we have a unique role to fulfill. Ultimately, our design and purpose as image-bearers it is not really a proposition to be understood, but a role to be embraced. We are called to be the stewards of the creation. A unique role to guard, to develop, to keep the creation on behalf of the creator. A steward is someone who has been given authority and responsibility. It doesn’t come from themselves, it is bestowed on them. They ultimately answer to the owner, to the king, on how they managed what was theirs to steward. And so our role as steward is bestowed upon us and likewise we give account for what we do. This is not just another sermon, but a whole series, so I’m not even getting into. It will have to suffice to say that part of our core identity and calling as image bearers is to rightly steward our God’s creation- to put a modern label on it- we have no other option but to be green.

And this role of steward by its very definition leads to our third point, we were made to be in a unique relationship with God. To know God, to be known by God, dearly loved children, a chosen people, set apart. Perhaps the greatest reflection of the image of God that we see in ourselves is our capacity and desire for relationships. This is one of the unique features of the bible and the Christian faith- the revelation of God as a relational being. This relational, triune being of God becomes clearer and clearer as scripture progresses. In the life of Jesus, we read time and again of this relationship- the Father so loved the world that he sent his Son; the Son Jesus came to us to be our friend, our guide, our redeemer, our savior, and so much more. The Father, and the Son, send the Holy Spirit to bring us into spiritual life and relationship with Jesus and the Father. We are invited to come into this being of communion- we worship the Father, through the Son, depending on the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

This is how we were created as image bearers, what we're meant to do as image bearers, ans who we are and relational image bearer. And that’s sort of the catch-22 of being an image bearer. You see, ultimately the bible tells us that we are not our own. We were created as image bearers in a unique way to fulfill a unique role and to enjoy a unique relationship with God. Therefore, our lives are not meant just for our own pleasures and pursuits, but for the pleasure of God, and to pursue his kingdom and his righteousness in the world. And if we are outside of a relationship with God, it’s as if we lose sight of who we made to be, for whom we were made to love and worship.

St. Augustine, perhaps the greatest theologian to ever live, wrote in his masterpiece simply called “Confessions”:

GREAT are you, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is your power, and of your wisdom there is no end. And man, being a part of your creation, desires to praise you… You move us to delight in praising you; for you have formed us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in you.

Have you felt that restlessness? Are you feeling that restlessness? Are you ready to find your rest in God, your rest in the one who made, the one whom you reflect, the one who draws you back into relationship to himself through the saving grace of Jesus Christ? Are you ready to look in the mirror and see yourself the way God sees you? I hope so, because it’s beautiful…



You know what I love about babies? Among other things, is their love of looking in mirrors. Give a baby a mirror and they are totally self-absorbed. They really think they are about the best thing ever. And in a great way we see that they simply delight in looking upon themselves. And you know, despite the sin and flaws and flecks and blemishes, God still looks at us and is simply delighted, simply enamored. Ultimately we can say of ourselves as we look in the mirror what God says of us*. I made you, I know you, I love you, you are my child, you are beautiful to me.

Friends, as you look in the mirror this week, remember this- you are made in the image of God, and God likes what he sees. In fact he loves what he sees. And next week we are going to go deeper into that reflection as we stand naked before our God.

* Someof my favorite passages of God's love for us:
Psalm 139:13-16,
“For you (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of the came to be!”

The prophet Isaiah, speaking for God, says, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” 43:1

In Jeremiah God say, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” 31:3

Zephaniah 3:17 tells us, “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

Jesus, time and again speaks of his love for us, his friendship with us, and ultimately, his death on a cross to save us.

Peter, one of the followers of Jesus, tells us, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9